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Shelby Contreras
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Artistic donations to enhance campus
By
Shelby Contreras
shelby.contreras001@mymdc.net
Uruguayan sculptor Alfredo Halegua is donating 95 mid-size sculptures and drawing valued at more than $2 million to Miami Dade College, according to Cristina Mateo, dean of administration at the North Campus.
The artwork is expected to be added to the Miami International Sculpture Park next fall semester. The collection is being shipped from Washington D.C., said Jorge Gutierrez, director of the art gallery system at MDC. The sculptures will be located in building two while the drawings and canvas pieces will be located in building six.
The gift marks the second donation of art Halegua has made to the College. The first contribution was in 2007.
“The first donation was comprised of 14 very large scale sculptures, which allowed the College to establish the Miami International Sculpture Park,” Mateo said. “The estimated value of the entire donation including [both donations] has an estimated value of close to $4.5 million.”
Halegua said he hopes the North Campus sculptures will be a venue where individuals can go and study his art.
“I found that the College has so much potential for artwork, so we started by donating the large pieces,” Halegua said. “The second group of pieces has more of a retrospective kind of view of my work because it encompasses many periods of my life.”
It’s important that the pieces connect with students, Halegua said. Gutierrez is confident they will.
“I think that Halegua’s work is very abstract and he combines form and color into the environment,” Gutierrez said. “Your eye is used to seeing buildings. When you suddenly see a figure that is handmade, that is created by man’s imagination that puts anyone in that environment to think in terms of creativity, no matter what.”
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